2nd-tier Middlesbrough, Brighton meet for lucrative spot in EPL

Associated Press

Updated
3:29 pm PDT, Friday, May 6, 2016

U.S. television coverage of European leagues is in a golden era, but while you’ll be able to watch Bayern Munich, Manchester United and new English Premier League champion Leicester City on Saturday, American TV viewers won’t be able to watch what could be the richest game in soccer history.

When Middlesbrough and Brighton meet in England’s League Championship, $250 million will be riding on it.

For the winner, a place in the Premier League and all the riches that offers. The league’s new domestic and international TV deals start next season and are worth $12 billion over three years — a record.

The loser will drop into the four-team playoffs, so it will get a second chance at achieving promotion over the next three weeks.

“This isn’t a normal game,” said Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka, the former Real Madrid defender who used to be an assistant coach for the Spanish club under Jose Mourinho.

Heading into the final round of games, Middlesbrough and Brighton have 88 points, behind already-promoted Burnley. Middlesbrough is in second place because of a better goal difference, so a draw will also be good enough for promotion.

Deloitte, soccer finance expert, has worked out that the team promoted will benefit from future additional revenue of at least $246 million compared with what it would generate if not promoted. This is based on a combination of extra revenue attained from playing in the EPL next season (at least $140 million) and guaranteed “parachute payments” in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons if the club is relegated after one season ($110 million across the two seasons).

That is about $58 million more than in 2015, because of the EPL’s new TV deals.

The increase in revenue for the promoted team could rise to in excess of $420 million if it survives the first season in the Premier League, Deloitte said.

That is far beyond what winners of football’s most coveted titles — the World Cup or Europe’s Champions League — will earn in prize money.

FIFA paid the German soccer federation $35 million for winning the 2014 World Cup.

European champion Barcelona got more than $69 million from UEFA for winning the title last year, though runner-up Juventus was the biggest earner, getting $102 million because of its share of lucrative Italian TV rights.

Briefly: Congrats to 27-year-old Chan Yuen-ting, who secured a unique place for herself in soccer history by becoming the first woman to lead a men’s team to a top-division national championship. Chan took charge at Eastern Sports Club in December, with the club not having won the Hong Kong league for 21 years, and last month the team clinched that elusive title. “I’m really lucky,” Chan said. “I have to say thanks to the club that they trust me, give me support.” ... Dinamo Bucharest player Patrick Ekeng, 26, died after he collapsed during a match in the Romanian capital on Friday. The cause of death was not determined. ... The Los Angeles City Council approved plans to build a $250 million stadium for Major League Soccer’s expansion Los Angeles Football Club, set to debut in 2018. The 22,000-seat stadium will be built on the site of the old Sports Arena next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and USC. ... Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele has been banned for six games after appearing to gouge the eye of Chelsea striker Diego Costa in an EPL game Monday. ... A tip of the hat to former FIFA boss Joao Havelange, who turns 100 on Sunday. The Brazilian ruled FIFA from 1974 to ’98 before being succeeded by the now-disgraced Sepp Blatter.